Mwinyi awarded over outstanding work in empowering youths
ZANZIBAR: ZANZIBAR President Hussein Ali Mwinyi has been recognised with the ‘Honour of Excellence in Youth Empowerment’ by the Global Youth Employment Institute (GYEI) for his exceptional efforts in addressing youth unemployment and integrating young people into government roles.
The award was presented to President Mwinyi during the opening of a forum titled “Becoming the Extraordinary Youth” at Mazizini, which celebrated International Youth Week.
The GYEI founder, Ms Amina Sanga, lauded Dr Mwinyi for his initiatives, including the establishment of youth councils and the allocation of Covid-19 relief funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support youth entrepreneurship.
“The Covid-19 relief funds have enabled young people to explore opportunities in sectors such as the blue economy, including fishing, tourism and innovation,” Ms Sanga noted.
Despite these achievements, she highlighted ongoing challenges, such as limited awareness of market-driven careers and insufficient job opportunities.
Ms Sanga also said since 2019, GYEI has been organising forums with NGOs, financial institutions and other key stakeholders to promote youth development, growth and networking to create job opportunities.
Ms Sanga informed the gathering that her GYEI has, since 2019, been organising youth forums involving NGOs, financial institutions and other key stakeholders in youth development to talk about growth and networking with the aim of creating jobs.
In his speech to grace the forum, Dr Mwinyi responded positively to the requests made by Ms Sanga to allow GYEI write a book to inspire youths about his success stories as a President for the past three years; organise ‘Youth Business Investment Expo’ and organise the ‘Becoming the extraordinary youth’ forum annually.
ALSO READ: Govt assures fair compensation for relocated citizens
Dr Mwinyi explained that the youth week which climaxes on August 12, remains crucial as it reminds the government about the importance of youth in nation building and that his government has been investing a lot in education as one of the key steps in developing youths.
“Many young people are being appointed to various positions in the government and they have been doing well. Increasing investments in the country also creates job opportunities for the local young people,” Dr Mwinyi said as he thanked GYEI for organising the forum.
Young leaders, including Mr Toufiq Salim Turkey, a politician and businessman, Dr Mngereza Mzee Miraji, Permanent Secretary (PS) Ministry of Infrastructure, Communication and Transport; and Ms Fatma Mbarouk Khamis, PS of the Ministry of Trade and Industrial Development, unanimously urged young people to be innovative and committed to use the available enormous opportunities in Africa.
They also advised the youth to change their mindset about life and adopt the culture of patience in achieving goals because “No success comes over night, you have to struggle for sometimes.”
Youths who attended the forum were from different parts of Tanzania including Geita, Mwanza, Arusha, Dodoma and Dar es Salaam.
International Youth Day (IYD) is an awareness day designated by the United Nations that takes place on August 12.
The purpose of the day is to draw attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth.
